Delicious sampler platters

Holy hell, friends. I think my musical ADD is on overdrive. At any rate, I thought I would just share some of the current original/cover/sample linkages that I can't stop toggling between. Does any one have any that they'd like to share? Who Sampled just isn't quite as satisfying as realizing it on your own. So here are my latest revelations.

Philly Seoul
Anyone who's communicated with me recently is well aware, I've been addicted to Korean dramas and their excellent English language attendant commentary here. It's bled a bit into Kpop too now, since the synergy of Hallyu is so mighty. While I usually find most of the music to be too saccharine, soulless, or overproduced, the association with the shows I've been watching along with some incredibly catchy melodies and irresistibly corny antics have made some of it worth a listen. I am a total newbie to the genre, so my judgments are pretty snap. Nonetheless a listen on SeoulFM yielded a discovery of Supreme Team.

This is a pretty excellent hip hop duo. While I can't comment on the lyrical content aside from the rather pedestrian use of English, this is one of the few acts in the realm of Kpop that has a great sense of groove that stands out amidst the predilections of many their contemporaries. Their love of the old school blended with the best infectiousness of the Kpop disease make for some sick tracks.

One of my favorites is "I Just Need You":



They're romantic yet keep the manly swagger. If you didn't notice, they sample the Stylistics "You Make Me Feel Brand New" on that one. An all time fave oldie of mine. But what did ST sample here? I still can't figure it out though it sounds so familiar. Some help please?

And they've kept up the old school love with a release last month, a sweet little offering at the temple of Q.

Time does indeed reveal
I'm not really going to explain this. You guys know I love Janelle Monae. She does a Miami Bass makeover to De Barge's "Time Will Reveal":



This stone is genuine
You might've thought the original version of "This Diamond Ring" was done by Jerry Lewis and the Playboys.



I certainly thought so for the 20+ years I've been enamored with this song and its great backing track. But who knew the Jimmy Radcliffe demo version could be so different? It opened my eyes to a whole new respect for the tune.



Gary Lewis still gets some childish love from me, with the most wholesome take on a playboy ever. But man, all of his covers make a more seasoned ear bleed.

Crystal Clear
And finally the new release Madame Monochrome from Amanda Diva just caught my attention yesterday. I especially dig her leadoff, "Trendsettas". But another standout "I Can See" shows Diva tipping her hat to Johnny Nash, obvs.

BritPopCornucopia #9: St. Johnny-be-good

Kate St. John is amazing. No one has ever looked sexier wielding an accordion:





I know, it looks like she's barely playing it. But Kate St. John is the real deal. Plus, her backup vocals remind me a lot of Prefab Sprout's Wendy Smith. I'll probably do something on them later.

Ever since I heard the dulcet tones of her oboe on Blur's song "Starshaped" I have loved her. I have loved her before I knew it was her too:



I didn't figure it out til YT put this as related, but when St. John was in The Dream Academy, they did a cover of the Smiths "Please Please Please let me get what I want" and this instrumental version was used in "Ferris Bueller", as you just saw. I remember thinking that tune was so pretty. I love me some oboe (and cor anglais). What an underrated and underused instrument!

Here's another favorite song of mine that also features oboe. Aside from this tune (Jordan Knight?! Really? Yeah, the beats are hawt, there's time signature changes, and Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis production. Almost enough to forgive the sexist lyrics...) and this aural beauty (Wiki says they were an influence on Knight, go figure), I can't think of many others that have employed it so well in pop, except maybe David McCallum's instrumental work with David Axelrod (Again, more musical genius to be addressed later). Anyone else have any good double reed pop examples to shell out?

Watch this interview with The Dream Academy. Nick Laird-Clowes is a bit of a self-indulgent pedant, but the love of music is quite nicely articulated by all of them. In fact, I realize dream pop is a bit of a pansyish thing to like, but their explanation of the new romantics as a reaction to punk makes a lot of sense. The same way Cool Britannia was a reaction to American grunge.

For more on Kate, the Queen of all double reed popstars, go to her website to see all the people she's worked with, including several other Britpop artists.